No. 8. 



The " OrchardisCs Companion.''^ 



251 



consists in the high price given for the ani- 

 mal. I recollect when one thousand dollars 

 was paid per head for merino sheep, yet no 

 breed of sheep that lived was worth half the 

 money. The farmer of moderate means, 

 should be careful to keep himself clear of the 

 high priced stock, and carefully count the 

 costs of feeding the cow, that is to yield her 

 thirty quarts of milk per day, A little ex- 

 amination into the feeding of these cows, the 

 time required to bring them to an artificial 

 and bloated condition, will satisfy the practi- 

 cal farmer, that if they received the same at- 

 tention and feed of the best of our domestic 

 stock, the yield in milk or butter would be no 

 more. The man who cultivates his own land, 

 will receive more benefit from a judicious se- 

 lection of a good common stock, being more 

 easily kept, and from occasional inattentions 

 do not decline so rapidly as that stock which, 

 by forced feeding and attention, makes a 

 much larger show in the eyes of the world. 

 That those who have large means and plenty 

 of hands to attend to the feeding of high-priced 

 cattle, may add largely and beneficially to 

 the stock of this country, I admit, and while 

 it gives amusement to the gentleman farmer, 

 may, no doubt, in his own circle, add some- 

 thing to his piofit also; yet, I am decidedly 

 of the opinion that the generality of farmers 

 do much better with good domestic slock." — 

 American Farmer. 



The " Orchardist's Companion." 



We would inform our rnrrespomlent, Pomona, that 

 the third number of the " Orchardist's Companion" is 

 published, and may be had by application to the pro- 

 prietor, Mr. Hoffy, 41 Chesiiut St., Pliiladclphia. The 

 present number contains twelve coloured illustrations 

 of fruit, namely, two grapes, tliree pears, three apples, 

 two peaches, one plum and one apricot, of most deli- 

 cious and inviting aiipearance. The testimonies in 

 commendation of this national work are very nume- 

 rous and of the highest character, and the proprietor 

 has lately received the silver medal as first prize from 

 the American Institute, New York, with a most flat- 

 tering notice of the estimation in whicli the work is 

 held by the public generally — an honour conferred with- 

 out solicitation or expectation on his jiart. The price 

 for the best edition is $7 per annum, for the second 

 edition $3 per annum, payable in advance. 



In the present number of the " Orchardist," there is 

 a beautiful coloured specimen of the apricot, drawn 

 from nature ; the specimen having been furnished by 

 Mr. C. Morris, of Philadelphia, who, in an accompany- 

 ing letter addressed to the proprietor, remarks, " The 

 tree which produced the fruit, is a graft upon a. plum 

 stock; my next-door neighbour has a tree growing from 

 a stone of my apricot, which produces an ordinary blue 

 plum, ripening late in the season ; the trees are very 

 different in appearance, both in leaf and growth ; my 

 apricot ripens the earliest of any of the kind — say, 

 early in July." The anomaly of a tree raised from the 



seed of the apricot producing plums, has caused much 

 discussion amongst the whole fraternity of horticultur- 

 ists, and the very idea of the thing is almost univer- 

 sally scouted — " It reminds us," say they, "of the justly 

 exploded doctrine of transmutation of wheat to cheat ; 

 and is not to be tolerated for an instant by any one of 

 respectable standing in the profession." We were, a 

 few evenings ago, spending an hour with a most intel- 

 ligent friend, whose knowledge and experience in the 

 science of horticulture is of long and high standing; 

 while turning over the pages of the presenLnumber of 

 the '• Orchardist," his attention was drawn to the 

 above circumstance ; and being informed that the sub- 

 ject had been viewed with universal skepticism, he 

 replied, " Is there any doubt of the fact as there stated ? 

 there need be none, for 1 have such faith in the thing, 

 that I will venture to say, one out of every six trees 

 raised from the seed of the apricot that has been graft- 

 ed or budded upon the plum-stock, shall, on fruiting, be 

 found to produce a plum; it is a thing perfectly well 

 known to those who have practised the mode of raising 

 the apricot from the stone of the fruit, which stone is 

 preci-sely in appearance like that of the plum ; and very 

 diflerent indeed from that of the peach.* The trans- 

 mutation may be considered, in a degree, natural, and 

 goes to open afresh, and for future discussion, the in- 

 teresting question of the bifiueuce of the stock upon the 

 graft." 



We once resided for several years in the Island of 

 Jersey, England, and were personally acquainted with 

 a gentleman, a Mons. Mallet, whose taste for horticul- 

 tural pursuits was proverbial ; his garden was situated 

 on the south side of the town hill, and there the fruit, 

 of which he was exceedingly proud, attained such a 

 degree of maturity and richness, as to yield, on drying, 

 sufficient saccharine to preserve without the aid of 

 sugar — his plums were even superior to those of the 

 south of France. Amongst the trees which he had 

 raised from seed — a practice which he strongly advo- 

 cated— was one that had sprung from a peach or apri- 

 cot stone, which, on fruiting, produced a plum of large 

 size and most delicious flavour and extraordinary ap- 

 pearance ; from this tree, which he denominated a black 

 peach, he would never allow a graft or bud to be taken ; 

 but his friends, who had seen the tree and the fruit, 

 pronounced it a plum, nor were they desirous of propa- 

 gating from it, expecting to be disappointed in the at- 

 tempt, considering it a chance production, and not 

 likely to perpetuate its kind ; every one being satisfied 

 that it had been raised from the seed of a tree that had 

 been worked on a plum-stock. 



In several of the back numbers of the Cabinet, the 

 influence of the stock upon the graft has been discussed 

 and much interest excited ; if the instance above men- 

 tioned shall tend to renew the consideration and ex- 

 amination of the important subject, we shall rejoice, 

 and would respectfully ofier the pages of tlie Cabinet 

 as a book of record. — Ed. 



Philadelphia, March I, 1842. 



In the year 1809, English grown Spanish 

 wool was sold for 26s. sterling per pound ! 



* A friend here remarks, the apricot may very pro- 

 perly be dnnominated a plum. 



